Film Review: The Greatest Showman

The story of circus ringmaster PT Barnum's early career and his journey from poor boy on the streets to 'The Greatest Showman'.

Before the film even starts and the producer logos are showing you get the chorus opening to 'The Greatest Show' alongside synchronised foot stomping. This opens into a magnificent group performance before the camera zeroes in on Hugh Jackman as PT Barnum before the scene fades to reveal a young boy looking at a ringmaster's outfit in a shop window before the camera pans down to show the open flap of the boy's shoe before his stern father calls him away.

This opening perfectly sets the scene for the story to come. A true rags to riches tale with genuine romance and a brilliant cast of characters. The soundtrack is perfectly matched too and no song feels out of place, every one moves the action forward or aids characterisation and will be a must buy for me. Personal favourites are 'The Greatest Show' and 'This Is Me'. Keala Settle's voice is absolutely stunning and her performance as The Bearded Lady is fantastic for only her third official acting credit, I foresee great things for her future. It would appear most of the supporting cast have very limited acting experience yet all were so impressive. I was also stunned to read on IMDB that Zendaya (Anne) did all of her own trapeze stunts, watching her sequences I was sure that it was a stunt double!

I also loved the fact that Barnum is a grey character. The relationship he has with his upper class born wife and daughters is brilliant to watch and while he has given the 'oddities' a chance he also easily forgets them when something shinier - Jenny Lind, the only cast member not to do their own singing - comes along. He also fakes some of the acts and I wonder how fair their wages were but it all comes good in the end and they become a true family. There's also a humorous rivalry between Barnum and a newspaper reporter.

It's also interesting to note that the descendant of Barnum's circus the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced in January 2017 that their doors were closing forever, due to decreased attendance and protests by animal rights activists. Their last shows were in May 2017. I also recently watched a David Attenborough documentary about Jumbo the elephant who was purchased by Barnum's circus, a move that led to his eventual death in a train accident while on tour. Jumbo was cited by Barnum to be the largest elephant in the world, a claim which owing to wild elephants being impossible to measure was unlikely to be true. However the documentary did state that Jumbo was large for his age and was far from fully grown. His life did not sound pleasant though, a diet of sweets leading to toothache which was dulled with copious amounts of whiskey, which was also used to calm his notorious rages, likely stemming from musth, the surge of hormones in male elephants. For anyone interested Attenborough and the Giant Elephant is available on BBC iPlayer. And probably other avenues...

5/5 stars

Stef Out x

Song of the Week #2

Hello and welcome to another round of Song of the Week... Not sure why I'm trying to sound like a radio host here... I have a crap voice for radio, too lispy. I have a YouTube thing/account so sometime I might do a little video, that Accent Challenge that goes around or something like that. Maybe. Then you can hear my lispy Southern English accent. Heck it's probably a more authentic Bristolian accent than Sarah Lancashire's appears to be in those radio adverts for her new drama Kiri, and I don't even live in Bristol, just next to it.

Today's song is...

'Sing' by My Chemical Romance. It's my ultimate power song and I just love the lyrics, especially the chorus:

"Sing it for the boys

Sing it for the girls
Every time that you lose it sing it for the world
Sing it from the heart
Sing it till you're nuts
Sing it out for the ones that'll hate your guts
Sing it for the deaf
Sing it for the blind
Sing about everyone that you left behind
Sing it for the world
Sing it for the world"

If I'm having a bad day I put this on, crank up the volume and it instantly makes me feel better. To me it's about embracing the underdog and basically fuck the system, it's crap and we know it but if we stick together we can power through and good will win. A recent example is Australia's same sex marriage vote. After so many years and lagging behind traditionally less progressive countries (*cough*USA*cough*) love won through popularity and that is awesome!

Anyway that's it for this Song of the Week. I will be back soon with a book review, well series review anyway.

Stef Out x

Song of the Week #1

So it may be an ambitious plan that will surely fail but I had the idea of this year doing a song of the week feature on this here blog to hypothetically go up on a Wednesday, technically I'm writing this one on Tuesday and will schedule it. I didn't want to bombard people too much, although this will end up being posts three days in a row. A good start to the year I'd say, now if only I could get around to updating my real life journal - I keep forgetting about it for enough time that my fountain pen dries up and needs swishing in water before I can use it again. Ha ha!

Anyway today's song of the week is the second song in one of my current favourite films, and the first one on the soundtrack. It is: 'Mr Blue Sky' by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)!

This is a really complex and interesting songs in terms of lyrics and musical flow. It starts off kind of rock and roll, then you bring in some electronic stuff and then you have this random almost operatic section and it's just such a feast for the ears and I love it.

At work they get a music license for the month of December so they can play Christmas music (normally it's a silent environment) and then once everyone is back at work Boxing Day (oh yeah, where I work Christmas Day and Easter Sunday are the only two days of the entire year that we are closed) they play a random selection of pop music. A lot of it is crap, too repetitive and loud or with annoying long notes but one of the few decent ones they played is 'Mr Blue Sky', it didn't seem to come up in the rotation much though. One shift I heard multiple songs more than once yet you're lucky if 'Mr Blue Sky' plays at all.

Of course a brief mention to the awesome film it's part of: 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2'! It feels like an opening scene sort of song but it's technically not. You get an opening prequel of sorts with Peter's parents which as cute as a seen as it is it kind of takes away the guesswork later in the film. Grey the hair and add a beard and mystery dude isn't really a mystery because you've already introduced him at the beginning. I personally feel like it should have been more of a surprise, although saying that I think the actor and his role had already been revealed before the film's release so it was always out there I guess. 'Mr Blue Sky' is the opening scene for the main characters though and you get a great sequence of Baby Groot dancing around the battlefield among the other characters and it perfectly matches the group's collective personalities.

So that was 'Song of the Week #1'. I'll be back in a few days with a book review maybe and next week for 'Song of the Week #2' which is as yet undecided. I have a few in mind though and they will surely all get covered at some point.

Stef Out x

Film Overview 2017

One of my New Years Resolutions that I make and DO stick to every year is to watch 100 films not counting re-watches e.g. I could watch Frozen 10 times but it can only be counted once.

This year I thought I'd do something new and do a bit of a breakdown by month. If I was that sort of person I'd probably do genre related pie charts but I am rubbish at maths and numbers and all that jazz so I'll just do a mini breakdown.

Year Total:109

January:18 of which 6 were animated, 4 were superhero, 3 were fantasy, 2 were action, 1 was sci-fi, 1 was horror and 1 was a musical.

February: 15 of which 8 were animated, 6 were fantasy and 1 was romance.

March: 7 of which 4 were animated, 2 were fantasy and 1 was action.

April: 8 of which 3 were animated, the other 5 were superhero.

May: 6 of which 3 were animated and 3 were superhero.

June: 14 of which 12 were animated, 1 was superhero and 1 was comedy.

July: 16 of which 11 were animated, 3 were fantasy and 2 were comedy.

August: 2 and both were animated.

September: 5 of which 4 were animated and 1 was comedy.

October: 8 of which 6 were animated, 1 was sci-fi and 1 was a musical.

November: 3 of which 2 were fantasy and 1 was animated.

December: 7 of which 2 were animated, 3 were fantasy, 1 superhero and 1 thriller.

So out of 109 films 62 were animated. I guess that's my favourite genre... Of course I re-watched 'The Land Before Time' this year and there's 13 films in that series. Well 14 last time I checked but I don't own the most recent one yet... Need to rectify that sometime.

Total Cinema Trips: 4
Beauty and the Beast
Logan
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 - went twice.

For 2018 I have picked the same number to watch - 100 - but I have also added the extra goal of going to the cinema 5 times. Checking my local Vue cinema website I would like to see (in alphabetical order after films that are currently airing):

• Pitch Perfect 3
• The Greatest Showman
• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
• A Wrinkle In Time
• Ant-Man and the Wasp
• Avengers: Infinity War Part One
• Black Panther
• Coco
• Deadpool 2
• Hotel Transylvania 3
• Incredibles 2
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
• Love, Simon
• Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again
• Monster Family
• Peter Rabbit
• The Darkest Minds
• The New Mutants
• The Shape of Water
• Wreck-It Ralph 2

The sequels are pretty much automatic based on their predecessors. Animated films are almost a guarantee although there were a couple listed that I'd like to see trailers first. Some like 'The Darkest Minds' I hadn't heard of but the synopsis sounds interesting. Superhero is another genre that's almost guaranteed but 'Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse' confused me in it's title. Is it a proper film? More information needed there, but also why do they need so many spidermen anyway? Just pick an actor and stick to him.

Another thing I want to try and track through 2018 is re-watches. How many times in a year do I watch Moana and the Guardians of the Galaxy films? Probably too many according to some but whatever. Anyway this has gotten pretty long so I will say goodbye and see you next post.

Stef Out x

New Years Resolutions 2018

So I thought last year's resolution list of 22 was more manageable but I still only achieved 6 and a bit. The bit was to read 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and I did start it but I'm on book 3 part 1 so I've put on this year's list to finish the series. The one thing I failed that shocked me was that I didn't read my 100 books! That's something I do every year without fail. I guess puppies take up more time than you realise... So here goes:

1. Lose at least two stone.
2. Get at least one piercing.
3. Get at least one tattoo.
4. Refine my clothing style, focus more on quality pieces.
5. Learn to drive.
6. Buy a new car.
7. See at least one stage show.
8. Got to Longleat Safari Park.
9. Get a second dog.
10. Read 100 books.
11. Finish 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series.
12. Watch 100 films.
13. Watch at least 5 films at the cinema.
14. Complete NaNoWriMo.
15. Finish the first draft of a novel.
16. Learn to draw dogs.
17. Improve my equine anatomy.
18. Buy a tablet.
19. Buy an iPod Classic.
20. Find a new career.

The trickiest things are going to be seeing a stage show, that depends on if there's anything decent on. The annoying thing is Wicked is on from pretty much now until March but we don't have the money for tickets at the moment and if we get the money then they'll probably have sold out so we'll see what happens. Shrek is on later in the year so that's a possible, as is the Take That one they did the TV show for.

NaNo is always tricky (this time I burned out and only wrote about 9,000 words) but I have a different plan in mind for 2018. Google docs or something similar on a tablet with a keyboard case. Hopefully that combination will fix the problems I have with speed and portability/ease. I can type faster than hand-writing but my laptop is a bit big and clunky to be bothered with and slower to start up whereas tablets are pretty much instant.

The other troublesome one is likely to be finding a new career. The thing is I'm starting to hate my job more and more. Retail is killing my soul and I don't know how much longer I can stick it. I'm 27 for Christ's sake this is not where I saw my life being, the thing is I've never had any clear idea of what I want to do. The only possible thing I did think of recently was dog grooming but I don't know if the market is too saturated where I live, are there too many? Are there any jobs? I need to research what's available locally in general - next town over is also possible once I learn to drive - and then see if there's anything that will suit me aka not retail, cleaning, office or reception (I struggle with telephones and 'perky face') that doesn't require masses of expensive training.

I'm shocked that I haven't already learned to draw dogs anyway but this year an idea for a project came to me themed around dogs, and then my brain literally just spoke and said why not do a series and include cats and horses too so that'll keep me busy for a few years hypothetically. Equine anatomy always needs improving in my art, I want dynamic, realistic poses!

I know an iPod Classic is an odd thing to want especially as Apple don't even make them any more but the storage size has always appealed to me. I debated just putting a super large SD card in my phone since my Nano died but the music app on my HTC phone is crap and some songs that I know are on the SD card just won't show up in my library which is weird. I even downloaded a music player thing from the app store and even that's not showing them. I don't get it.

I've already lost some weight but recent health crap at the doctors means that losing some more would be a good idea, also I want more freedom of clothing. I don't want to cross-examine a top or dress and debate whether or not it's going to fit me. I also want to buy more things that suit my rainbow goth style. As for piercings and tattoos they're a constant that keep getting pushed each year. Although saying that I did get a tattoo last year, even if it was only because a friend of mine is an apprentice and was doing them for free, I still love it anyway. It's a mandala style moon on my right shin.

Oh something I didn't put on my resolutions list but want to do is figure out a direction for this here blog. I'm thinking maybe more of a book/film review type thing with occasional writing bits thrown in. I originally started it with the intentions of it being a fashion blog but most of the time I'm in a t-shirt and skinny jeans or jogging bottoms because of walking the dog. I did try and take an outfit photo with my new camera a while back but I couldn't get everything in focus so I'm not sure how people who do it solo manage...

Anyway I've written enough for one day so I will leave it there for now.

Stef Out x

Would You Rather: Christmas Edition

Just a mini post as I saw this on a few blogs and fancied doing it. I will try and do a proper post shortly...

Eat brussel sprouts or cauliflower cheese?

Both! Although if I had to choose it would be the sprouts honestly.

Have twinkling lights or still lights?

Still but we do have some that go over the window that do flash gently. I don't mind if they aren't too manic but even though they can the tree ones must not flash.

Eat gingerbread or Ferrero Rocher?

Neither but gingerbread if I was forced to choose.

Open your Christmas presents with only immediate family or with all your family members?

Immediate family, so me and mum.

Cook Christmas dinner for the whole family or don't eat Christmas dinner at all?

Toughie. I am a rubbish cook but if mum couldn't I wouldn't want to go without so as long as it was small-ish hopefully I could cope if she talked me through it...

Have a real Christmas tree or a Fake Christmas Tree?

Fake every time.

Use blue, yellow, white or multi-coloured lights?

Mixture. We have multi-coloured and white on the tree, blue and white in the kitchen, pink and yellow with white in the window and yellow and multi-coloured on the display units.

Eat mince pies or Christmas cake?

Mince pies! Yum!

Wake up at 6am or 10am?

6am because I can never sleep late on Christmas morning no matter how tired.

Drink champagne or hot chocolate?

Got to be hot chocolate. I love it enough that I have it almost every day even in summer whereas I've never even tried Champagne.

Eat Heroes or Roses?

Heroes! The best tied with Celebrations.

Get a puppy for Christmas or a kitten for Christmas?

No pets for Christmas. My puppy is a lot of work even now he's 8 months, to bring that with all the mess of toilet training home in winter would have been a nightmare whereas bringing him home in the summer by now we have good routines set (his behaviour is still very questionable in a lot of ways though). Kittens are easier to cope with over the holidays but I would be wary of any person or place that let a pet go home at Christmas knowing how many get dumped after the holidays.

Watch Elf or Home Alone?

Home Alone is a classic. I've watched Elf but I wasn't a fan. Just too silly from what I remember.

Only be able to listen to Christmas songs all year round or never hear a Christmas song again?

Never hear a Christmas song again. When you hear them on repeat in your crappy retail job you kind of want to pull your eardrums out after a while. I always enjoy them at home up until the point they start at work and then that starts to ruin things.

Wake up bright and early and get all of the best boxing day sale goodies or stay warm and cosy in bed wearing your new Christmas pyjamas?

Apart from the fact that I had to work boxing day this year (and Christmas Eve) stay warm and cosy inside wearing pyjamas all day.

Long Time No Post + NaNo Questions From PaperFury

So... It's been a while. That potential dog I was talking about? 

Meet Ryazan Fingal aka 'Forest'! He is a purebred Borzoi and at the moment he's 5 and a half months old. He was born 7th May and we brought him home 12th July! It has been a whirlwind and things haven't really stopped since then. We must be mad because we're now thinking about possibly putting or names down with a couple of sighthound rescues and hope they're OK with flats and enthusiastic puppies 😆 LOL!

So now onto the main reason for this post: the yearly tradition that is National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo! I attempt most years and have yet to succeed. Last year I got to 29k words which I was pretty pleased with and that was with a fairly solid idea and lots of laptop time. This year my idea is much more vague and I'm planning on hand writing so not exactly a recipe for success... But hey I'm gonna try!

1. What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea? The base idea came to me as I was trying to get to sleep one night a couple of months ago.
2. Describe what your novel is about! It's about the truth behind family and heritage. There will be magic and faeries.
3. What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like! 
   
4. Introduce us to each of your characters! Lindy is the main character, she has black curly hair, ice blue eyes, tanned skin. She is queer and trans and love goth/strega fashion. Her mum is Andrea, who is pale, blonde and petite and they look nothing alike (sets off story). Sadie is Lindy's supportive best friend who has red frizzy hair and loves research. Onyx is one of the first figures Lindy meets on her journey, she is not human and has very dark skin and white hair. Fennel is a pure white talking Borzoi (pictured above). Villains of the story are Mallick and Magda.
5. How do you prepare to write? (Outline,
   research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?) Come up with a vague plot and some characters, start writing, panic when things don't go to plan (I never properly plan because planned chapter 7 always ends up happening in chapter 2 and it's frustrating), drink copious amounts of tea and hot chocolate.
6. What are you most looking forward to about this novel? Seeing if I can actually tie this thing together into something that makes sense.
7. List 3 things about your novel’s setting. Forests that appear purple, crystal clear lagoons, British secondary school.
8. What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way? To find out the truth about herself, her whole identity is tied up in knots. Her mother is a primary block in refusing to tell her the truth. Mallick is the other block in her accepting her future.
9. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel? She has matured, accepted her differences and even embraced them. She willingly takes the role she's meant to.
10. What are your book’s themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over? "Choice not chance determines destiny". I want them to be able to accept their differences as a part of them and embrace themselves.